STANDISH, ME – Saint Joseph's College (21-5, 13-3 GNAC) claimed a pair of mercy-rule victories versus Anna Maria College (2-22, 1-12 GNAC) in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) softball action at Richard W. Bailey Field on Saturday afternoon. In the opener, the Monks recorded an 11-0 win in five innings and completed the sweep with a 9-1 victory in six frames in the nightcap.
Saint Joseph's clicked on all cylinders in the sweep as the Royal Blue rapped 29 total hits – including a program single-game-record nine doubles in the closing contest – in a 20-run offensive outburst. Outstanding pitching was also on display, as senior Kayla Vannah (Waldoboro, Maine) and freshman Erica Boulanger (Somersworth, N.H.) combined to toss a five-inning no-hitter in the first game and junior Rae-Marie Copan (Newton, Mass.) was perfect through three in the latter contest.
The Saint Joseph's pitching staff held the AMCATS hitless until the fifth inning of the second game, when freshman catcher Samantha Miller (Dudley, Mass.) led off with a single to center off sophomore reliever Laura Jordan (Orrington, Maine). Anna Maria proceeded to score their only run of the day later that inning when Miller sprinted home on a Britney Williams (North Chelmsford, Mass.) infield single.
Senior center fielder Danyelle Shufelt (Sutton, Vt.) made history with a single in her first at bat in the second game, as the base knock counted for the 200th hit of her outstanding career. She is just the second player in program history to reach the landmark total and joins former teammate Emily Leverone '12, who notched 258 career hits over four collegiate seasons, in the exclusive club.
Senior catcher Heather Tripp (Lovell, Maine) paced the SJC offense by going 5-7 with two runs, three doubles, a triple and four RBI in the two contests while junior shortstop Lindsay Moore (Barrington, N.H.) was 5-7 with four runs, two doubles, two RBI and a pair of stolen bases in the pair of victories. Shufelt went 4-7 with three runs, an RBI and three steals while junior left fielder Theresa Hendrix (Scarborough, Maine/Cheverus) was 4-6 with two runs, two doubles and a pair of RBI on the afternoon.
In the circle, Vannah earned the winning decision in the opener after tossing three innings of no-hit ball with three strikeouts and a pair of walks. Boulanger fanned a pair in two no-hit frames to cap the truncated no-hitter. Copan struck out four in three perfect games to collect the win and improve to 7-1 on the season and Jordan surrendered a run off three hits and a walk with one K in three innings of mop-up duty.
For the AMCATS, sophomore hurler Nichole Lowe (Saugus, Mass.) took the loss in the opener after yielding seven runs (five earned) off eight hits with two punch-outs in 2.1 innings and freshman Angela Vousboukis (Swampscott, Mass.) allowed four unearned runs off five hits and a free pass in 1.2 innings of relief. Vousboukis suffered the loss in the nightcap after giving up nine runs off 16 hits and three walks in five-plus frames.
Both programs take on conference opponents on the road tomorrow, when Saint Joseph's faces Emerson College in a twinbill slated to start at 12:00 PM and Anna Maria takes on Rivier University in a two-game set beginning at 1:00 PM.
Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 350-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
